Page 30 of Rescuing Brinley

She gave the engine full power and held her breath as the plane picked up more and more speed. It was bumpy, but not enough to make her second-guess the decision to take off. At this point, she’d risk taking off in a freaking hurricane if it would get her and Dash away from the men with the guns, who were all too eager to take them out.

She vaguely heard the door of the plane close as they began to lift into the air.

And between one heartbeat and the next, they were airborne.

She wanted to cry.

Wanted to collapse in a heap of relief that she and Dash were alive.

But there was no time for congratulations yet…she still had to find a place to land and then hope they were able to get assistance in time to help the women lying as still as death behind them.

“Are they okay?” she yelled above the sound of the engine.

She hadn’t taken the time to put on any headphones and didn’t want to take her hands off the controls. She might know how to fly, but she was still a rookie when it came to being a pilot. The last thing she wanted was to have gotten them away from the resort, only to kill everyone onboard because she’d forgotten something important she had to do while in the air.

When she didn’t get a response, she risked looking over her shoulder.

Dash obviously hadn’t heard her…he was too busy working on repositioning the women so they weren’t lying on top of each other and carefully checking their pulses.

Brinley’s throat got tight.

Dash Carlson was a good man.

One of the best she’d ever met. And not because he’d complimented her.

Not because he’d kept her safe.

Not because he was doing everything in his power to make sure the strangers around him were as comfortable as possible, even though they weren’t feeling anything at the moment.

It was all of it. Everything.

The way he so obviously loved his mom.

How protective he was.

The way he looked at her, not as if she was ugly but as if she was the only person in the room.

The way he kissed.

How he wasn’t afraid to tell her what he wanted. To ask her on a date. To tell her that he wanted to spend a week with her in a cabin back in Alaska.

His skill at what he did for a living.

His innate leadership qualities.

Honestly, he was the most amazing man she’d ever met…and that scared the crap out of her. He was the first man she’d ever wanted with a visceral kind of desire. She liked being around him. Liked how he made her feel. Liked how she forgot that she was the awkward, weird-looking virgin who no man had ever bothered to look at twice before.

Around him, she was simply Brinley. And he made her feel desired.

She had no idea what would happen once she landed this plane, but she was both terrified and excited to find out. If they went back home and he had second thoughts about seeing her again, it would hurt more than when stupid Tommy Goeller had won that bet by asking her to Homecoming.

But she was pretty sure Dash was a man who meant what he said. A man who didn’t go back on his word. And if he said he wanted to take her out, that’s what he’d do. Just as he promised he’d keep her safe.

Turning back around to look out the windshield, Brinley focused her attention on flying. The danger wasn’t over. Not until they’d safely landed and the women got the medical attention they needed, and they learned what was happening back at the resort.

Once they knew everyone was safe, then and only then would Brinley let down her guard. And she had a feeling once she had a second to think about what had just happened, the danger they’d been in, what she’d done, she’d lose it.

CHAPTER SEVEN